Daniel S. McGrath: gambling research profile

Dr. Daniel S. McGrath is a Canadian psychology professor studying gambling, personality and financial decisions. His work also covers behavioural addictions and cryptocurrency. In 2026, he leads research on sports betting and safer gambling messages.

Current roles at the University of Calgary

McGrath is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. His official profile also lists him as an associate dean and a senior research fellow with the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. He is a full member of both the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education.

His positions connect research, teaching, institutional leadership and mental health scholarship. They also place gambling research beside wider questions about behaviour, cognition and financial risk. This combination helps explain why his work reaches beyond conventional casino studies.

Education shaped by two disciplines

McGrath began with formal training in business and marketing before moving deeper into psychology. He completed Business Technology studies in Marketing in 1999 and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing in 2001. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Mount Allison University in 2003.

His graduate education continued across both fields. He received a Master of Science in Marketing and Consumer Studies from the University of Guelph in 2006. He completed a PhD in Psychology at Dalhousie University in 2013.

Why the combined background matters

Marketing examines how products, incentives and messages influence consumer attention. Psychology adds methods for studying motives, personality, cognition and harmful behaviour. McGrath’s academic path allows these elements to be considered together rather than as unrelated topics.

Leading the Substance Use and Gambling Lab

McGrath heads the Substance Use and Gambling Lab at the University of Calgary. The lab focuses on relationships between substance use and gambling addictions and collaborates with the Addictive Behaviours Lab. Much of its work has received support from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute.

The lab brings together peer-reviewed research, student projects, conference work and participant-based studies. Its broader record includes experiments, surveys and studies of gambling cues, motives and related behaviours. This environment supports questions that cannot be answered through one method alone.

The research areas associated with McGrath and the lab cover several connected forms of behaviour. They range from traditional gambling participation to digital finance and personality. Major themes include:

• gambling motives and continued participation;
• problem gambling and gambling-related harm;
• tobacco, alcohol and other substance use;
• attention to gambling and addiction-related cues;
• online, offline and mixed-mode gambling;
• social casino products and gambling-like rewards;
• personality traits, including HEXACO dimensions;
• cryptocurrency, trading and financial speculation;
• sports betting and self-regulation;
• safer gambling communication.

From smoking research to digital risk

McGrath’s earlier work examined gambling alongside smoking and nicotine use. His publication record includes studies comparing smokers and non-smokers who gamble and experiments involving nicotine, craving and video lottery terminal play. These projects established a continuing interest in overlapping reinforcing behaviours.

His later publications expanded into gambling fallacies, attentional bias, social casino games and national patterns of gambling harm. He has also contributed to work on responsible gambling, online participation and psychological predictors of problem gambling. The progression reflects a move from specific comorbid behaviours toward broader digital and financial environments.

Attention, motives and gambling behaviour

McGrath has examined attentional bias, gambling motives and psychological predictors among electronic gaming machine players. His work includes eye-tracking and distinctions between financial, social, excitement and coping motives. These factors are treated as parts of wider behavioural patterns rather than complete explanations of harm.

Research programme active in 2026

McGrath is involved in several Canadian projects active or relevant during 2026. They address self-regulation, safer gambling communication, cryptocurrency and national changes in gambling behaviour. The projects combine large samples, follow-up measurements and collaboration across universities.

Sports betting and self-regulation

The sports betting project plans to survey 3,000 Canadians who gamble on sports. It examines which self-regulation strategies they use and how those strategies relate to problem gambling. A six-month follow-up is designed to identify predictors of continued adherence.

Safer messages shaped by lived experience

McGrath is also a co-principal investigator on a project developing safer gambling messages with people affected by gambling harm. The researchers aim to test messages that reflect varied experiences instead of relying on one repeated slogan. The project recognises that the same wording may not remain effective for every audience.

National patterns and provincial differences

McGrath is part of the research team for the second national gambling project supported by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. Its objectives include comparing provincial gambling models, examining changes since 2018 and studying personalised feedback and reduction apps. The project also includes adult and youth survey components across Canada.

Behavioural finance and cryptocurrency

McGrath’s current profile places behavioural finance among his main research areas. It specifically names cryptocurrency, financial speculation, trading and investing alongside personality and behavioural addictions. This focus reflects the growth of digital products that combine rapid decisions, uncertainty and emotional responses.

His cryptocurrency project examines ownership patterns, motives, psychological characteristics and associations with gambling involvement in Canada. The project collected two waves of data from the same owners, with the follow-up completed in January 2025. Its purpose is to study links and changes without assuming that every cryptocurrency owner has a gambling problem.

Evidence from different research methods

McGrath’s work uses methods suited to different kinds of questions. Laboratory studies can measure immediate reactions, while surveys and longitudinal designs can identify broader patterns over time. Collaborative national projects add comparisons across groups, products and provincial systems.

No single method can establish the full cause of gambling harm. Results may reflect personality, product access, motives, financial conditions, substance use and exposure to several gambling formats. Combining methods reduces the risk of turning one association into a universal claim.

Reading gambling evidence carefully

Strong gambling content should preserve the distinction between evidence and inference. Readers should see whether a statement comes from an experiment, population survey or follow-up study. Useful evidence checks include:

• identifying the population included in the research;
• separating correlation from demonstrated causation;
• checking whether behaviour was measured once or repeatedly;
• noting whether results apply to one product or several;
• distinguishing published findings from ongoing projects;
• avoiding predictions about an individual from group averages.

Teaching and research supervision

McGrath’s University of Calgary profile lists PSYC 305, History of Psychological Thought, among his teaching responsibilities. The same profile invites applications from prospective graduate students in psychology, excluding clinical psychology. It identifies behavioural finance, personality and behavioural addictions as areas for potential supervision.

Graduate training extends his research beyond individual publications. Students can work on questions involving sports betting, cryptocurrency, personality and responsible gambling behaviour. Supervision also connects current data collection with future researchers and new methods.

Recognition across research and teaching

McGrath’s official academic record includes postdoctoral fellowships, doctoral funding, research awards and teaching recognition. Listed distinctions include support from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre and the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation. His dissertation was also a finalist for a Dalhousie University doctoral dissertation award.

The awards reflect several stages of his academic development rather than one isolated achievement. They cover graduate study, postdoctoral research and teaching. Selected recognitions include:

• Ontario Mental Health Foundation postdoctoral fellowship;
• Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre doctoral fellowship;
• Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation doctoral research awards;
• Dalhousie Graduate Scholarship;
• finalist recognition for a Dalhousie doctoral dissertation award;
• nomination for the J.E.A. Crake Teaching Award;
• Tibor I. Barsony Award.

Relevance to gambling information

McGrath’s research supports a more careful way of discussing gambling products. It encourages attention to motives, behavioural patterns, product design and the limits of personal control. This approach is more reliable than explaining every result through luck or individual willpower.

His work is also relevant to bonuses, sports betting, social casino products and speculative finance. These areas can share features such as repeated incentives, rapid feedback and uncertain outcomes. Their similarities should be studied without claiming that they are legally or psychologically identical.

Academic relevance without endorsement

Academic expertise should not be presented as proof that a casino, promotion or payment method is safe. McGrath’s verified roles and research help explain gambling behaviour and consumer risk. They do not guarantee individual outcomes or replace the need to check an operator’s current terms.

Frequently asked questions

What is Daniel S. McGrath’s current academic position?

He is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary.

Which gambling research organisation is he affiliated with?

He is a senior research fellow at the Alberta Gambling Research Institute.

What are his main research interests?

His current interests include behavioural finance, personality, gambling, gaming and other behavioural addictions.

What did he study before completing his psychology doctorate?

His earlier education included marketing, business administration and marketing and consumer studies.

What project does he lead in 2026?

He leads a national study of self-regulation strategies used by Canadian sports bettors.

Does his research include cryptocurrency?

Yes, his work examines cryptocurrency ownership, motives, psychological characteristics and gambling involvement.

Does he lead a research laboratory?

Yes, he heads the Substance Use and Gambling Lab at the University of Calgary.

Does he supervise graduate students?

Yes, his profile invites psychology graduate applications in behavioural finance, personality and behavioural addictions.

Does his academic work endorse Slotorado?

No, academic expertise should not be interpreted as an endorsement of a specific gambling operator.